Baty Excels, Madrigal Leaves Injured As Split-Squad Mets Play Two
It was a split-squad day for the New York Mets on their second day of exhibition action. One squad stayed in Port St. Lucie to take on the Miami Marlins, while the other side headed to West Palm Beach to face the Washington Nationals.
It was a pair of uneventful games. The Mets tied the Marlins at one and lost 11-6 to the Nationals. The biggest takeaway from these games on Sunday around Florida was the competition for the infield spot. Brett Baty, Jett Williams, Luisangel Acuña, and Nick Madrigal all played and are vying for that last infield spot this spring.
Baty saw his second consecutive day of action as he looks to make the team. On Saturday, Baty got a hit and scored a run. On Sunday, he continued his early momentum with two hits and a run scored. Baty led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a double to right-center field. He advanced to third base on a ground out by Jose Siri and then scored on a balk. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Baty took a curveball to the opposite field for a single and notched his second hit of the day.
Additionally, Acuña got the nod at shortstop and led off for the Mets in Port St. Lucie. He went 0-for-3, but in his first at-bat, he roped a liner at 75.6 mph that would’ve been a double down the right-field line, but Miami Marlins first baseman Jonah Bride snow-coned it. He struck out and grounded out in his next two at-bats.
In West Palm Beach, Jett Williams played second base and shortstop and went hitless as took a 0-for-3 on the afternoon. It was a tougher day for Nick Madrigal. Madrigal started at shortstop and hurt his shoulder while going for a ground ball. Madrigal exited the game, and afterwards, manager Carlos Mendoza revealed Madrigal suffered a dislocation his left shoulder.
Max Kranick started in Port St. Lucie, and Ty Adcock pitched in West Palm Beach. Kranick threw two shutout innings, struck out one, and worked his way out of an early first-inning jam. Adcock wasn’t able to complete the first inning as he gave up three hits, five runs (three earned), and walked three.
Other notable pithing performances were 1 2/3 scoreless by Joshua Cornielly against Washington while Tyler Zuber went 1 2/3 scoreless as well, despite walking three.
Player Of The Game: Brett Baty
Baty is off to a nice start this spring with three hits and is, as a result, batting .600 through two games. It’s only been two games, and it’s way too early, but it would appear Baty has the lead in the infield competition.
On Deck:
The Mets will head to Jupiter on Monday to face the St. Louis Cardinals. Blade Tidwell is projected to start for the Mets against former Met Steven Matz. The game will be broadcast at 1:05 pm ET on Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM.
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